By More than 3.79 million clinically extremely vulnerable people in England will be informed they are no longer advised to shield from Thursday 1 April 2021.
In line with the government’s COVID-19 Response – Spring 2021 roadmap published last month, those on the shielded patient list can begin to follow the national restrictions alongside the rest of the population, but are still advised to take extra precautions to keep themselves safe from COVID-19.
Letters to patients with updated guidance will be arriving from today and over the next 2 weeks. These set out practical steps people can follow to reduce their risk of catching the virus, including continuing to maintain strict social distancing and to keep their overall social contacts at low levels, such as working from home where possible.
The move follows the steady decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations across the country for the last couple of weeks.
Senior clinicians, including the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, Dr Jenny Harries, have recommended that shielding advice is paused nationally from 1 April onwards, as supported by the latest scientific evidence and advice.
Dr Harries said: “With the prevalence of the virus in the community continuing to decrease now is the right time for people to start thinking about easing up on these more rigid guidelines.
“If you have been shielding, we strongly urge you to take extra precautions following 1 April to keep yourself as safe as possible, such as continuing to observe social distancing and working from home.
“We will continue to monitor all of the evidence and adjust this advice should there be any changes in infection rates.”
The government has confirmed that shielding will come to an end from 1 April.
Around 3.8m people who are on England’s shielding list will start receiving letters.
The new guidance recommends that clinically extremely vulnerable people continue to take additional precautions after 1 April, such as working from home and following social distancing measures.
More than nine in 10 clinically extremely vulnerable patients have received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. However the government said it was still important that these people followed the additional precautions ‘to keep themselves as protected as possible’.
